I don't have the details on this, but the noise out there suggests a
Pentium Pro runs 16 bit code slower than a Pentium does. Intel's
optimized the 'Pro for 32-bit code, just like Microsoft's pushing
32-bit apps for the "Designed for Win95" logo. This is another sign
that these two giants are trying to kill DOS.
Yes, the 'Pro will run Win95's 16 bit components slower than a Pentium
can. According to KB article Q122869, these components use 16-bit
code:
* Disk utilities (ScanDisk, Defrag, DriveSpace 2)
* Games (The built in time-wasters, even Freecell is a 16-bit
version here)
* Win 3.1 compatibility stubs (like KRNL386, USER, GDI, all the .DRV
files)
* Win 3.1 components (WinChat, SYSEDIT, Program Manager, File
Manager, WinVer)
* The Win95 tour
* DOS programs and COMMAND.COM, and the start up code which uses DOS
If you use only Win32 programs, you won't touch the 16-bit code once
Win95 is up. If you avoid DOS programs you won't use DOS for any
hardware access.
Yes it's slower than a Pentium for old crap, but it's faster than a
Pentium for the new crap.

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